birdseye maple

[charlie knighton]

where to buy birdseye maple for hollow forms

[Del Hollingsworth]

I'll be interested in seeing the comments on this one. I haven't seen a good piece of birdseye maple in years. Where did it go?

[Brian Effinger]

I'll be interested in seeing the comments on this one. I haven't seen a good piece of birdseye maple in years. Where did it go?

China and the far East. From what I understand, they can't get enough of it. A lot of it is sliced up into veneer. :eek:

[David DeCristoforo]

Good luck! As Del and Brian said, "good" bird's eye has become almost impossible to find in any form other than veneer. I used to be able to get bird's eye that was so intense you could not put a pencil eraser on the board without touching an eye. And the eyes were about the size of the pencil eraser. When I was making chessboards, I scoured the country trying to buy really nice bird's eye with very little success. And I cannot recall ever seeing a chunk of bird's eye of a size you would need for a hollow form turning.

[Brent Grooms]

try http://www.bellforestproducts.com/ If you can, try to talk with Boone or Eric... They are probably the best equipped to have what you are looking for.

[John Keeton]

Charlie, our Woodcraft has four "posts" of BE maple - about 6-7" in diameter and about 24" long. But, sadly, every one of them has split because of poor sealing. A rare find, but not very desirable at this point. They have been there awhile.

[Quinn McCarthy]

Birdeye maple has not gone anywhere. The occurance is somewhat rare. The highest frequency of BE maple is in the UP of MIchigan. So I would dtart there. Bell forest products in Ishpeming, MI sell BE maple turning blanks. Hope that helps.

Quinn

[robert hainstock]

Our turning club, Supiorland woodturners meets at the Bellforest products building, and they usualy have an excellant supply of Be as others have said. And as been suggested, Boone, or Eric will helpyou. Just be sure to be specific as to the quality you are looking for. Good Lucl!
Bob

[Michael E. Thompson]

Charlie

Quinn is right, the only place I have find BE is in the UP of Michigan. Unfortunately I cannot give you a source, but a coworker has a brother who logs the UP and says there is quite a bit there. However expensive. Now, I was fortunate enough to recieve three, four foot sections, 16" in diameter of BE. PM me and maybe we can work out a trade. Currently under alot of snow right now though. See pics below of what I have.

Mike

[charlie knighton]

very nice birdseye turnings, Michael. what did you finish them with????

[Michael E. Thompson]

Typical finish is BLO and shellac, then a three wheel buff.